Qatif-Trucial War
and the |image = |caption = |date = 13th January 1971 - 12th November 1971 |place = Qatif Trucial States |result = |combatant1 = Qatif Qatifi Armed Forces Ba'athist Revolutionary Guards | | | }} |combatant2 = Trucial States Trucial Armed Forces | | | }} |commander1 = Mustafa al-Karim Rifaat Abdul Othman al-Hussein |commander2 = Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum |casualties1 = 12,000 Soldiers |casualties2 =Around 10,000 soldiers and civilians}} The Qatif-Trucial War sometimes known as the First Persian Gulf War was an armed conflict between Qatif and the Trucial States that occurred between January to November 1971. The war began when Qatif invaded and placed it under military occupation. The invasion of Bahrain was seen as a way of rallying popular support for the Ba'athist dictatorship of Mustafa al-Karim who had become increasingly unpopular in Qatif following economic downturn. The Trucial States responded to the invasion by mobilising their armed forces supported by Britain, the and Western regional allies. In February the Trucial States began a campaign to liberate Bahrain from Qatifi forces, which resulted in constant fighting on the island until May when Trucial forces placed it under their control. That same month the Trucials also launched an attack on Qatif itself, capturing Khafji and Al-Tuwaiq. Following the capturing of key Qatifi cities al-Karim was able to get substantial support from Arab nationalist regimes and the , mounting a counter attack on Trucial forces, with the Qatifi army committing numerous war crimes. Qatif tried to retake Bahrain several times whilst Trucial forces continued to move into Qatif. In October the League of Nations proposed several peace initiatives as the Trucial Emir Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum motioned for the end of hostilities. In November Qatif mounted another attack on Bahrain which was easily repelled, causing al-Karim and Al Maktoum to sign the Baghdad Agreement which saw a ceasefire declared. The war resulted in the dissolution of the military junta in Qatif, although the country remained under the Ba'athist dictatorship of al-Karim. Meanwhile Trucial leaders began to forge closer relations with the west as well as take a harder stance against communist and Ba'athist movements. The war has remained controversial, with the justification for the initial invasion especially having been debated. After the crisis Qatif was left economically weak and dependent on its Arab neighbours as well as the Soviet Union, with major economic growth in Qatif only really taking place ten years later whilst the Trucial States became alongside Saudi Arabia the dominant power in the region. The role of foreign powers and the war's impact in the has also sparked controversy. History Background Up until 1961 Qatif and the Trucial States had relatively cordial relations. For much of its history Qatif had been a vassal state of the , and was unique in the fact that the majority of its inhabitants practiced being ruled by the Shia al-Tahir dynasty. Following Qatif became a protectorate of Britain who set up the Anglo-Qatifi Oil Corporation (AQOC), a nominally joint enterprise widely believed to have been in actuality completely run by the British. The Trucial States meanwhile was an alliance of various Sunni ruled Sheikdoms that had been united in 1863 by the Maktoum dynasty of Dubai, which became a hereditary monarchy in 1894 in order to ensure unity and stability. Since 1913 Qatif had been a whilst the Trucial States remained a where the Emir was a de facto . Both states were aligned to western powers in the opening days of the and opposed the and movement advocated by and the in . , Rifaat Abdul, Othman al-Hussein and Omar Zaki]]In 1961 a led government was elected in Qatif. Disagreements between the new government and Sultan over the role of foreign powers in Qatif and constitutional inconsistencies led to substantial political instability. With Qatif on the outbreak of civil war a group of military officers led by Mustafa al-Karim staged a coup against the Sultan, liquidating the government and replacing it with military junta known as the Revolutionary Committee which soon instituted single party rule under a reformed Qatifi Ba'ath Party. The new regime was and in tone, severing ties with the west and allying itself with the and the Arab republics in and Syria. This saw relations deteriorate substantially between Qatif and the Trucial States whose previously robust alliance was quickly unravelled. The leaders of this regime was Mustafa al-Karim who led the armed forces; Rifaat Abdul who oversaw the economy; Omar Zaki who was the chief ideologue of the party; and Othman al-Hussein who led the secret police. The new regime promoted territorial ambitions, which worried Arab monarchies such as the Trucial States and Saudi Arabia. Rifts between the two nations widened further following Qatifi support for the in the , and for rebel forces such as the and the in the which was seen as having a potentially destabilising effect for the Trucial States. Following further Ba'athist Revolutions in and relations reached rock bottom. Qatif's ambitious socialist program and growing support from the also worried Trucial leaders who feared Qatif would try and force a Ba'athist revolution to happen in the Trucial States. In 1967 the regime had Qatif join Egypt, Syria, , , and in the against , with support from Arab monarchies such as Saudi Arabia and the Trucial States. The crushing defeat of Arab forces severely weakened the Revolutionary Committee's standing in Qatif, with many starting to doubt his political competency, as well as the previous Arab nationalist rhetoric being filtered out due to the humiliation of the Six Days War. Prominent Arab Nationalists were blamed for leading Qatif into the war, with the regime's chief ideologue Omar Zaki, one of the four most powerful members of the regime, being purged. The regime also began to increase persecution against who were gaining popularity as the Arab socialist movement started to fade. In 1970 the government of Qatif in accordance with the 1967 five years plan announced intentions to nationalise the AQOC. This prompted the British government to declare sanctions against Qatif that were followed by the US and members. The Revolutionary Committee was able to successfully nationalise the AQOC, but soon found that with numerous sanctions placed upon it that the Qatifi economy was fast approaching collapse. In response to this the Revolutionary Committee drastically increased measures in Qatif as well as implement into the rural areas of Qatif. These measures whilst deemed economically required nonetheless were received harshly by the general populace with discontent of the government becoming widespread. Lead up to invasion Continued opposition to the Revoutinary Committee saw an increase in nationalist rhetoric as Pan-Arabism became discredited. Blame was foisted upon Britain and the west for Qatif's economic troubles, as repression became more widespread. The nationalist propaganda also served as a counter balance to the increasing influence of Islamists. As early as 1967 and Chairman of the Economic Committee Rifaat Abdul formulated a new direction in the propaganda of Qatif which stressed the creation of a Greater Qatif. The concept of a Greater Qatif became a new cornerstone of Qatifi foreign policy which promoted the unification of what were deemed the "Qatifi people", who were characterised by being Shia Arabs. Greater Qatif would include portions of , Iraq and as well as the entirety of and Bahrain. For diplomatic purposes moves to incorporate Iraq were downplayed with the majority of propaganda stressing irredentist moves towards Bahrain and Kuwait. As unrest continued, Abdul, al-Karim and al-Hussein agreed that Bahrain would be the first territory to be "liberated" by Qatif. Bahrain (as part of the Trucial States) was under the control of the ruling family. Bahrain's population was over 50% Shia, whilst the Al Maktoum family was Sunni. In Qatifi propaganda the family was portrayed as imperialist reactionaries who had "no right" to rule over the "Qatifi people". Sectarianism was employed to convince the Qatifi public of their shared heritage with the Bahraini people. The Trucial states responded by beefing up its military presence in Bahrain and Qatar in 1968 and began a campaign of countering propaganda with propaganda. The people in Bahrain were reminded that they were better and different than those in Qatar, reminded of their struggle to join to form the Trucial States, with over 100 years of the treaty and 70 as a unified nation, compared to Qatif as being a puppet of first the Ottomans and then the British during all these years. Further propaganda campaigns did stress that Bahrainis would be made to be second-class citizens and slaves of the Qatifi military. In 1969 a plan for the invasion of Bahrain was formulated. The plan, known as Operation Al Awal was a joint sea-air based invasion of Bahrain. The Qatifi Navy would land at various ports of the western coast whilst air bombings of key cities such as Manama would incapacitate the stationed Trucial Forces. Land based forces would be quickly deployed to take key cities in a matter of hours. A massive militarisation effort was taken as Qatif brought military hardware from the such as the , and tanks, , , , , and aircraft and , , and . The Ba'athist Revolutionary Guards, a paramilitary unit, was formed on the orders of al-Hussein to spread the so-called "Ba'athist Revolution" and was trained directly by Soviet and reported to the Qatifi Intelligence Directorate (Idarat al-Mukhabarat al-Qatif, or Mukhabarat). Some sleeper agents from the Mukhabarat and the Revolutionary Guards were deployed in Bahrain by 1970 in order to help facilitate the coming invasion. A number of arrest were made in Bahrain in 1970 and early 1971, but many of the Qatifis there were able to avoid detection. In September 1970 the Qatifi navy started to enter Bahraini waters, resulting in the Trucial government to directly speak out against Qatifi aggression. The newly appointed Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Sulayman Younis Azzam, embarked on a diplomatic visit to the Trucial States where he assured the Trucial Emir Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum that Qatif would not threaten Trucial sovereignty, signing the Muscat Agreement on October 17th 1970. On the 29th December 1970 elections for a temporary legislature known as the Qatifi Revolutionary Assembly of Delegates were held in Qatif. Ballot papers only listed one candidate - that being a member of the Ba'ath Party. The Assembly which was made up of well over 1,000 delegates convened for the first time on the 12th January 1971. The Assembly was meant to draft a new constitution for Qatif, but instead called for the annexation of Bahrain, claiming that the unification of a Greater Qatif had to be achieved before a constitution could be signed. An invasion was set to be carried out on the 13th, although Qatifi forces had been mobilising for an invasion for well over a year. It was only until the 14th January was the declaration of annexation made public. Operation Al Awal The invasion of Bahrain was conducted in three phrases. The first was to deploy several naval vessels across the Qatifi-Bahraini coastline which were full of amphibious vehicles whilst several bombers would destroy the naval and air defences of Bahrain. Qatifi troops would land on Bahrain either via ship or amphibious vehicles were they would neutralise Trucial forces on the ground whilst key urban centres such as , Al-Jufayr, and Al-Jasrah would be bombed by the Qatifi airforce. Category:Qatif Category:Conflicts Category:Trucial States